Sandra Bullock's kids will get '3 small gifts' this Christmas: 'We said: Why don't we just make this about other people?'

Sandra Bullock looks festive and bright at a special screening of Netflix’s Bird Box on Dec. 17 — maybe because she’s changed up the way she’s doing Christmas this year. Overdoing it is out; giving back is in. (Photo: Getty Images)

During an appearance on the Today show Tuesday, the actress, who had a challenging year with the loss of her father and two rescue dogs in a matter of weeks, said that her family decided to change things up this year in an effort to make the holiday more about giving than getting. She explained that instead of running herself ragged — again — and feeling like she wasn’t buying enough, they’ll be having a three-gift Christmas.

Bullock, 53, said Christmas is “usually overdone” at her house, which she also shares with boyfriend Bryan Randall, who is a model and photographer. “Really, really overdone,” she added.

“I overdo it and then I panic that I didn’t do enough,” she continued. “And then I get more and then everyone else has overdone it. But this year we just stopped.”

She said that because “there’s so much happening in the world where people don’t have anything, we said, ‘Why don’t we just make this [holiday] about other people?’” She said that her kids, Louis, 8, and Laila, 6, “were amazing about it. So Christmas is three small gifts.”

While Bullock didn’t talk further about the three-gift idea, the concept is something embraced by many families. It was inspired by the three gifts from the Wise Men (gold, frankincense and myrrh) but modernized in an attempt to make Christmas less commercial — and keep people from going broke (not that Bullock has an issue there).

And we’re not sure who Bullock plans to give back to this holiday season, but she’s a big giver all year ’round. In November, she donated $100,000 to help save animals in the California wildfires. Last year, E! News reported that the star has “donated over $6 million to charities without most people noticing” after pledging $1 million to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. At that point, she had given the Red Cross $5 million since 2001.

Bullock, who is promoting her new Netflix thriller, Bird Box, which is out now, revealed at the Elle Women in Hollywood Celebration in October that she had a “crappy few weeks” after her father, John W. Bullock, 93, and her two rescue dogs, Ruby and Poppy, died.